Systems and Methods for Enhancing the Delivery of Compounds to Skin Pores using Ultrasonic Waveforms

Abstract

The invention is a device for transmitting acoustical energy through the surface of the skin of a patient, coupled with the administration of a compound, for example an acne medication, for the purpose of temporarily expanding the patient's pore size and enhancing the delivery of the compound to the patient's pores. The ultrasonic transducer emits a sonic transmission of variable intensity and frequency for the purpose of enhancing the absorption of compounds that have first been deposited onto the surface of the skin and into skin pores that have been expanded by the ultrasound transmission.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)[0001]This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61 / 465,654, filed 23 Mar. 2011, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference as if fully set forth.FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0002]The present invention relates generally to systems and methods for enhancing the delivery of compounds to skin pores using ultrasonic waveforms, and more particularly to the use of sonic transmission of variable intensity and frequency to dilate a patient's skin pores and deliver a compound to the dilated pores.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0003]It is known in the art to utilize ultrasound to enhance the permeability of the skin and synthetic membranes to drugs and other molecules. Ultrasound is typically generated by vibrating a piezoelectric crystal or other electromechanical element by passing an alternating current through the material. The use of ultrasound to increase the permeability of the skin to drug molecules ha...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

This patent describes a way to make ultrasonic delivery of drugs more effective by using different techniques such as phase modulation, alternating waveforms, and frequency modulation. These techniques can increase the rate at which drug compounds are delivered.

Problems solved by technology

While the use of ultrasound for drug delivery is known, results have been largely disappointing in that enhancement of skin permeability has been relatively low.

There is currently no consensus on the efficacy of ultrasound for increasing drug flux across the skin.

There has also been a lack of focus in the prior art on the power utilization of the sonic transducer and the size of the sonic device.

Drawbacks to the use of iontophoresis are the difficulties in controlling drug delivery and irreversible skin damage caused by use of the technique.

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